


i can die a hundred times, and each time i shall rise, as strong as before

by mintpearlvoice



Category: Star Wars (Marvel Comics), Star Wars: Darth Vader (Comics)
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Women Being Awesome, step one kill your abuser, step three profit, step two ???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 10:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18602245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mintpearlvoice/pseuds/mintpearlvoice
Summary: How a nobody from a backwater planet rises in the ranks of- and then betrays- the empire.Title quote is a line of dialogue from Darth Sion.





	i can die a hundred times, and each time i shall rise, as strong as before

Daaé had no idea what would result from her impulsive confession. But one thing she hadn’t expected? The slow, mechanical rumble that was Vader chuckling right in her face.

“You... love me? Irrational. Love is a worthless, powerless emotion- yet I cannot help but wonder-“  
He made a gesture, and she found herself falling to her knees, holding her head as if she could stop a sudden, wrenching headache through willpower alone.   
And then he was watching her memories as if on a holo-display. All the little fantasies that had gotten her through one dreary, pointless day after another. “Hmph.”

Daae bit her lip, trying not to cry. Sure, she knew her life was miserable and likely to remain so. That she was a war orphan from a backwater planet who’d joined up with the Imperials because it was the only way she could possibly afford medical training and become the doctor her home village so desperately needed; that her fellow medical technicians mocked her for her provincial accent and lack of familiarity with what they saw as popular culture; that she was plain and boring and she mumbled…

“You seek revenge, is that it? Recognition? You thought being with me would give you the power you’ve never been able to find on your own.”

There was no point in lying, not when he could pull every thought directly from her brain. “Yes, sir.” Although she was trying not to cry, a tear slipped down her cheek. Her superior was right. She was nothing but a pathetic, daydreaming, deluded girl.

But then-

Darth Vader, she couldn’t help but notice, was looking right at her. And even through the mask, she could sense a dizzying intensity in his gaze. “You foolish, bloodthirsty little child. Love is a weakness, but so is expecting someone else to fight your own battles. If you want someone dead, you need no strength in the force. Kill them. Clear your own path to victory. Nothing is stopping you from being free.” He raised his chin, and she was so startled she forgot entirely about crying. “What is your name?”  
“D-Daaé. Sir,” she added with a clumsy salute.   
“Daaé. The next time I return to this station, I expect you to have made some progress with taking charge of your life.”

He strode out of the room, not caring if she was following, because he gave orders to thousands of people each day. She just sat there, her legs too wobbly to stand just yet, doing her best not to scream or faint or anything else embarrassing.  
It didn’t matter that he didn’t love her, honestly. The fact that someone so powerful had noticed her? Knew she had a name, a story? That was almost enough.  


When Daaé returned to her position, her superior was there, as always. Berating her, as always.

“You worthless, disgusting, mentally unfit girl! I’ve been trying to reach you on your communicator for quite some time, you know. Is this how you repay the Empire for lifting you out of the snowmelt? The next time this station docks-“  
“Shut up,” she said, politely and sweetly, and jammed a scalpel through his throat.  
It took a long time for him to bleed out; gurgling, clasping, clutching helplessly at the hole when she removed the scalpel and blood spurted forth.  
Look at me, she thought. See me. I will be the last thing you ever see.

When he was dead, she kicked him, just because she could. Vader had been right. She didn’t need to confine her wish to be powerful to idle daydreams. She could be someone in real life, too.

Daaé bought a used tablet with her new, improved salary- turned out if you had friends in high places, killing someone could be a fast track to a promotion- and started reading. Military strategy. Cybernetics. Sith history.

By the time rumors about someone who could use the Force on the Rebellion’s side started flying, and communications went dead from the neighboring outpost? Daaé already knew which way the space winds were blowing. She had a secret cache of medical supplies in a disused storage room and two escape pods keyed to her biometrics and hers alone. As the station went up in flames under a swarm of TIE fighters, she gave it a smirk and a mocking salute.

Of course, she’d be counted among the dead. She was no one, after all. But when she got back to her village with all this medicine and bacta? She’d be able to change things for the downtrodden people of her settlement, just like how Darth Vader’s commanding power had changed everything for her.


End file.
